by A. S. Oren
Slayer Leader
"Paden! Come back here!" I scream over the roar of the battle, trying to infuse every ounce of magic I have into the shout. He turns his head to glance over his shoulder, but he doesn't stop running or turn around. He's just too far away for the Voice to work on him. I scream again, not for him, but out of frustration. I'm losing him, but in an entirely different way than how I lost Maverick. I can still see and hear Paden, but he has no idea that we truly grew up together on an apple orchard in Bellingham Washington. Too far gone to see the truth through the haze of lies his mind and Roseman are feeding him. I can only hope that he comes to his senses and realizes that I'm not the bad guy before the war kills him too.
"Do you want to paint even more of a target on us, Princess?" because soon we'll have arrows sticking out of us like kabobs on the grill," growls Lusk near the back of me.
We edge along the mountain; at least the Slayers can't surround us from all sides. I'm not even sure they've noticed us yet. Too consumed with the hoard of dragons flying around, trying to singe their combat suits. Bodies line the ground, I can't help but wonder how many of them are dragon shifters. Who has the upper hand right now? I shouldn't even care; this isn't even my war to fight. If we just keep edging along the mountain, we'll eventually find an opening that heads east, and then we can find the cave or somewhere better to hide.
"King, help me add an invisible barrier around us, it will make it easier for us to run if we can't stay near the mountain rock the entire time," Bullock says.
Together they work the air, making it surround us in a large barrier and hiding us from view. My heart eases the momentum its set for itself, but the rush doesn't leave my veins. We may be safe from them seeing us outright, but that doesn't mean a stray arrow, or bomb, can't hit us still out of nowhere, right?
Dante still holds tightly onto my hand. I reach behind me for Amr's hand. I need to know he's still here with me. He takes it and I let out a sigh. I'm so glad I have him back, he remembers now. I no longer have to pretend like he isn't my brother. Dante leads us. The battle moves further west and away from us. We may actually get out of this alive and without having to fight more than Bullock and I already have, and even then, we didn't seriously hurt or kill anyone. I hope we can keep it like that. I don't know what I would do if I actually took a life in the name of war. Especially in the name of a war I don't even stand for.
Dante walks right past an opening in the mountain, which looks like it goes all the way through to the other side. We could all fit through it if we go single file. I stop him and pull him back. Amr rest his hand on my shoulder as he almost runs into me. "We could go through here," I say.
"What if it ends going off the mountain? We'll fall to our deaths."
"We're dragon shifters; we can shift our wings before we'll hit the ground. We're on one of the tallest mountains in the word. It will take us more than a second to hit the ground. One of us can shift into a full form and catch the others if we need to. I want to get as far from this battle as we can."
Dante bites his lip. "Okay. I don't really want to stay out here in the open for very much longer either. "I'll go ahead of you and the rest of you can follow behind, just in case, so that you can't at least be prepared for the drop.”
He edges himself between the rocks. It's not as of a tight fit as I thought it would be. He gets a few feet in and I start to follow when something grabs my legs and drags me out of the safeness of the invisible sphere. I scream, and shift my nails into talons so I can grab onto the ground. I pull up dirt and wild grass but it does nothing to give my any type of advantage.
They pull me into the air like some kind rodeo cattle thing. I swing from the hover bike as they pull me up until I'm sitting on the bike in front of them. They put one hand in front of me as I move to jump off. I elbow them in the stomach, but let out a scream as my bone hits rock my arm goes limp from the elbow down. I cradle it. Their armour doesn't play around. "I got her, boss," says the voice behind the helmet. I feel like I should know it from somewhere.
"Like hell you do!" I yell. I start try to shift my form. A massive dragon will crush this bike in one sitting. Nothing happens; I can't even get a fingernail to change. What the hell? I just ripped up the ground with my talons.
"You won't be able to do that on this bike, Avalon."
The guys come out of hiding. "Avalon!" Dante calls.
Why aren't they doing something to this guy? If they all teamed up, they could take him in seconds.
"Avalon!" Bullock calls next.
"Avvi!"
"Princess!"
I frown. I'm right here, practically a sitting duck on a hunter's rifle.
"They can't see you. To them, you just were dragged away by an invisible force and poofed into thin air. Our invisible technology is a hell of a lot better than that little air bubble they had going. You know we all could see you, sneaking along the mountain side, as if you were going to get out of here without us noticing."
"Who the fuck are you?" His voice, it’s going to drive me mad.
"That's not important right now. Important thing is I have you trapped, and nothing you try to throw at me will changed that."
I try to form a fireball in my hand, to throw in his face, but nothing. I don't understand.
"You obviously don't get it. Nothing you try will work while you’re on this bike, and once I deliver you, you really won't have a chance in hell to escape."
He goes silent for a second before giving a nod of his head. "You heard the Boss, move out! We've made a good enough dent in them anyway. Burnt the dang thing nearly to the ground!"
In an instant, all the Slayers on hover bikes blip out of existence, as if they were never there. The guys still scream for me, as if I'm going to jump from somewhere and announce this has all been just a sick, elaborate prank.
"Get ready, Avalon. Your fate's about to come to you, since you think you can run from it and make your own decisions."
He reaches on either side of me and revs the bike before taking off in the opposite direction of the forest. I struggle to free my legs and get off the bike, but my legs don't move and my butt doesn't do what I want it to.
"You'll like your new life, Avalon. The Slayers aren't all bad. We just want to restore the order to things. Make sure that Aibek doesn’t get what he wants and that we get to learn and have the powers of the supernatural world again. That's all we want. It's not like we are asking for a lot, you know?"
Will I ever get of this crazy train?
The bike comes to hover over the farming fields at the base of the mountain. But cattle no longer stand in fields, nor do any of the Tibetan people stare out their windows and doors. They're gone, up and left their houses, but took their animals and belongings with them.
"We paid off the local town and promised them a better life away from here. When they saw the money, they were more than happy to climb up onto our hover crafts and leave." He lowers the bike to the ground in front of one of the small houses. They did end up building their camp at the base of the mountain.
The guy gets off the bike and leaves me to sit on it, tied with a broken elbow and no way to move from it. "Boss, she's here!" The mysterious voice calls to someone in the house.
Large footsteps sound from the dirt floor. A figure steps from the shadows and into the light of the moon. His bi-coloured eyes stare into mine, and my breath stills.
"Hello, Avalon," Kearn says as he smiles and comes to stand in front of me. "I'm glad you were able to join me on this wondrous night, when everything sets in motion. I do hope Minos has treated you well?"
I look to the guy with the helmet, just as he takes it off. His long ebony hair falls to his shoulders. His lavender eyes glow in the moonlight. "Hello, Avalon. And it was a pleasure to retrieve her for you, Boss. It was like taking candy from a baby. I didn’t even need to fight any of the morons sworn to protect. Best of the best my ass. "
"What? You're working for the Slayers? But you're
a dragon shifter, that goes against everything you were born into. And you," I turn to look back at Kearn. "I don't know what you are, but I know you’re not a Norm. How can either of you be part of the Slayers then?”
“There’s obviously a lot you weren’t taught in your history class, Avalon. There’s so much I can teach you,” Kearn takes my hand.
“What could you possibly want with me?” I ask. Pulling my hand out of his grasp.”
“Everything, my dear. I’m the Unmarked Royal the prophecy speaks of. Together, you and I will change everything about our world and the order it follows. Together, we will create the new generation.”
***
The Triad Wars (continuation of Spearwood Academy) Book One will be out October 13th 2015 and will be a full length Novel. 45-90k words.
If you liked or didn’t like this volume, please leave an honest review at one or both of the links below:
Amazon viewbook.at/SAV8
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25342317-spearwood-academy-volume-eight
Keep reading for a sneak peek from Zether’s Minma Chronicles Episode two and to find out release dates and more.
Gildemer episode Three: June 14th
Gildemer episode Four and Miltic Episode One: June 28th
Miltic episode two: July 5th
Gildemer episode five: July 12th
Inner Secrets of a Queen Bee: July 19th
Blurb
My name is Lauren Mavis, and every day I want to kill myself, I just haven’t had the courage to do it, yet.
I’m seventeen, a senior at Fort Woods Private Academy. I’m an anorexic, a bulimic, and a cutter. I was molested at the age of ten. No one can ever know that.
My father’s running for president this coming election and I have to remain the perfect representation of what an American daughter should be: the top of my class, the homecoming queen, a virgin until marriage. My mother would have an aneurysm if the real me was shown to the public. No daughter of hers would ever be depicted as mentally ill. No daughter of hers would’ve been molested. As if it was my fault. Maybe it was…
I do have one saving grace, Calvin Smith, the scholarship kid of the school. His eyes can see through my perfect façade, and for that, I think I might love him. He would never want me though; not after what my ‘friends’ and me have done to him. How could anyone truly want me?
*Warning This book is NA for graphic scenes involving Self-harm, eating disorders, and sexual content. Not meant for minors and may be triggering to those in recovery.*
Sneak Peek Of Minma Chronicles Episode Two
Trent’s Episode One: Torn Identity
Coming out June 14th
By Zether
The Bourne Identity
December 1st, 2014
I wake up to the numbness of my body meeting a pebble strewn sidewalk. Why am I sleeping outside? A current shoots off in my brain, blocking me from retrieving my memories. A head tilt to the left reveals a snow-covered ground, but warmth surrounds me. I press my palms against the sidewalk and stand.
A three-story house with a glass front sits before me. The lights are all out except for the one on a mantle above a fire place, which shines down on a hot tub and illuminates a small portion of the room beyond. Matching red and green furniture forms a semi-circle around a big screen TV, which hangs on a stone-covered wall. Why did I come here?
A snap sounds from my left followed by a growl. I turn slowly, taking in steady breathes. The night no longer seems save when I spot the cause of the sound: an all-white arctic wolf whipping its head back and forth with an arctic hare clamped between its jaws. I slink backward in an effort to get away, but my heel sinks into the snow, and I fall onto my rear. The snow chills me to my bones, but the real shiver comes when the ferrous beast drops its prey and scurries over to me.
I back away in a crabwalk. Its paws sink into the snow as the small amount of the light from the house glints off its glowing eyes. The rhythm of my heart thrums away in my ears as perspiration wets my skin. My eyes dart to the awning, where I first spotted the wolf. Twinkling lights dangle from the edges like icicles. What is a wolf doing so close to civilization? Better yet, what am I doing here?
The signal shoots off again. Instinctively, I press my palm against my head. A howl rings in my ears and echoes off the mountain sides in the distance. My breath hitches. More will come. If I scream now, the wolf will probably maw me, but I’ll have a small chance of finding help before the whole pack arrives.
I take in a deep breath and yell. Lights flick on in the glass house as the wolf pounces me. I shield my face with my arms and close my eyes. Dear God, please send someone to help me. I brace for the wolf’s claws to mangle my face, but, instead, a rough, wet tongue laps my face. I giggle and move my arms. It just wants to play.
I weave my fingers through its fur and scratch. The door to the glass house opens, and a woman with olive skin and dark hair steps out onto her porch. She folds her arms and eyes us suspiciously. “Stella? What are you doing?”
Stella? That’s not my name. “I’m Trent.” I rub the wolf’s head as it licks away at my neck.
“Stella?” The woman at the door stay as a couple walks out of the house with the well-lit awning.
The couple cover their mouths with their hands and laugh. “Stella, get off the boy.”
So Stella is the wolf? Who has a wolf for a pet?
“Are you happy?” a little girl says.
What? I look up to see the talking wolf but see a naked girl on top of me instead. “What the—”
“Hello, T-ren-t.”
My breath hitches before I crawl out from under her. She crosses her arms, and her smile turns into a scowl. “Don’t want to play?”
Not with you in your birthday suit. “You were just a wolf.”
“Stella, get your naked behind over here,” her mom calls.
Her dad picks up the dead hare. “Late night snack, I presume?”
She yanks it away from him. “Mine!”
He throws his hands up in surrender before roughing up her hair. “Okay, it’s yours. Go in with your mother. We’ll talk about the consequences for you sneaking out in the morning.”
I look at the woman by the glass house. “How are none of you freaking out? She was just a wolf.”
The woman’s brows furrow, and she purses her lip before turning to the man. “Lance,” she says, “do you know this boy?”
Lance shakes his head and walks toward me. “No, Ramos, I thought maybe you knew him.”
“Where am I?”
They both look at me. “You don’t know?”
I shake my head. “I woke up on your sidewalk a few seconds before Stella pounced me. How was she a wolf?”
“She’s a wolf shape shifter,” Ramos says. “Almost everyone in this village is. Except for me, of course.”
My eyes go wide. “What are you?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know,” she says smoothly. “Do you know what brought you to my porch?”
“No.”
“Do you know where you came from?”
“No.”
“Do you remember anything from before you woke up?”
I concentrate and think back. The shock hits me, but I try to withstand it. I clinch my teeth and keep pushing but nothing surfaces.
“That’s enough,” Ramos say.
I keep pushing. There must be something. I couldn’t have poofed into existence. I know my name. I knew that Stella was an arctic wolf. Why can’t I remember how I got here, wherever here is?
Lance kneels down beside me and lays his hand on my shoulder. “Trent, you’re pushing yourself too hard. Your nose is bleeding.”
I touch my nose. Sure enough, it’s bleeding. Ramos joins us and reaches out to me. “Come on, Trent. Let’s get you inside.”
“Where am I?”
Lance looks up at her. “Do you think he has amnesia?”
Ramos shrugs. “He could be a spy, but I don’t think
Stella would’ve reacted the way she did if that were the case. Children tend to have a good sense about who is good and evil. He appears to have had his memories wiped.”
Lance studies me. “What are you? Five? Six? You don’t look a day older than my Stella.”
I squint, and a date appears in the white space of my mind. “July 30th, 1998. Six. I’m six.”
“Is that typical of amnesia?”
Ramos shakes her head. “I find it odd. This area is off limits. We haven’t had spies for years, and they’ve never been so young. They most certainly would’ve known about shape shifters. Then again, they may have waited to throws us off guard. Either way, it’s better to keep him close than to set him free to go back to his master.”
“Master? I’m not a slave.”
“How do you know if you don’t have your memories?”
“I just know. Like, with the birthday, I just saw the numbers in my head. It’s like a white void in my mind. It hurts to try to remember anything from before I woke up, but other things I just know. If I think of something, like being a slave, I get queasy, so I know I’m not a slave.” I tug on my hair. “As much as my presence confuses you, it’s much more puzzling to me.”
They eye each other again.
“He sounds older than my Stella.”
“Yes, and his features resemble that of a puralynn.”
“Do you think he’s—?”
Ramos shakes her head. “If he is, there’s no way he’s a full puralynn. No king would give up an heir.”
“Unless, maybe, he was birthed to another puralynn.”
She shakes her head. “A puralynn cheating on a spouse would get them beheaded. Besides, one rarely strays from their mate. You know the bond of two wolves is stronger than almost any bond. However, it does not come close to the bond between two bonded puralynns. I dare say, if it were true, his parents would be insane to have gone so far as to create a child. Not only that, but they wouldn’t wait so long to dispose of him.”
I stand up and brush myself off. “I would prefer that you speak to me and not of me as if I am not present.”